Smith Left Tangled Legal Web

Anna Nicole Smith, leaves the U.S. Supreme Court, in this Feb. 28, 2006, file photo in Washington. Smith and TrimSpa Inc. have been sued in a class-action lawsuit alleging their marketing of a weight-loss pill is false or misleading. Janet Luna and three people identified as her guardians were named in a lawsuit filed Thursday, Feb.1, 2007, in Los Angeles Superior Court. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Manuel Balce Ceneta - AP)

LOS ANGELES -- A judge on Friday refused to order an emergency DNA test on the body of Anna Nicole Smith as part of a paternity suit involving her infant daughter, but he ordered that the body be preserved until a hearing in 10 days, attorneys said.

Two men are contesting the paternity of 5-month-old Dannielynn, and experts say the custody decision could determine the child's inheritance.

With major legal issues undecided, Smith's legacy could take years to untangle and could leave the baby girl with millions of dollars or nothing at all.

Larry Birkhead, a former boyfriend of Smith, claims he is the father, though another man is listed on the birth certificate. His attorney Debra Opri requested Friday's hearing to ask the judge to order that DNA be immediately collected from the Smith, who died Thursday in Florida.

"Nothing was granted. Nothing was denied," Opri said after the hearing. She said another hearing had been set for Feb. 20 and the judge had ordered Smith's body preserved until a decision was made.

The DNA is needed to connect Smith with Dannielynn "so that no one can switch the babies," Opri said.

She also asked the judge to take jurisdiction over the child _ reported to be in the Bahamas with friends of Smith _ until her paternity is established. The judge did not rule on that request.

Attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith's most recent companion, is listed on Dannielynn's birth certificate as her father. If it is determined he is the biological father and if he was legally married to Smith _ which has yet to be established _ Stern, not Dannielynn, would likely inherit Smith's estate, experts say.

Ron Rale, an attorney for Anna Nicole Smith, decried the push for the test so soon after her death. He said there was no urgency because his client's DNA would be irrelevant in determining who fathered the child.

"It is despicable that we would have an emergency notice and appear right now," Rale outside court.

If Smith left no will, and if she and Stern weren't married, then the baby's father and child likely would split her assets, according to Christopher Cline, an estate planning lawyer with the firm of Holland and Knight.

"It's a really large legal quagmire," said Cline, who enumerated some of the many questions hanging in the balance.